


Give Me A Sign

by ZiggyTheNinja



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Bullying, Character Death, Coming of Age, Deaf Character, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Sign Language, Slow Burn, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-29
Updated: 2018-03-18
Packaged: 2018-11-20 18:00:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 19,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11340534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZiggyTheNinja/pseuds/ZiggyTheNinja
Summary: He drew attention to himself without even meaning to. However, it wasn't just his name that brought about unwanted attention.





	1. Opening

**Author's Note:**

> This work is heavily based on the film A Silent Voice--Ironically, a few things that happened in HP Canon line up well enough with the film, though it is still its own story. This is a rather self indulgent story.

He drew attention to himself without even meaning to.

In a way, it was similar to how attention follows Albus around whether he wanted it or not. He thought at first it was because of his family—It made sense, after all, his family had been involved in some dark matters. His name is infamous in the wizarding world much like how Albus’ was just straight famous.

However, it turns out it wasn’t just his name that brought about unwanted attention.

Albus didn’t notice it at first. He’s fairly sure no one realized it until they were in class together, but when he thinks about it, he should have probably got the hint the very first day at Hogwarts, when his name wasn’t announced with spoken words, but with it being written in the air with magic.

He recalled watching a blond head walk up to the seat where the sorting hat would be placed upon his head, hair longer then should be for a boy, he thought, and messier then his fathers hair was when Albus saw them at the platform. When the hat was placed on his head, he saw his face light up and his cheeks flush as a smile formed on his lips. His legs kicked a bit before the hat suddenly shouted—

“GRYFFINDOR!!”

Albus heard the dining hall fill with murmurs.

“Gryffindor? Why _us_?”

“Thats got to be a mistake. Theres no way someone like him—“

“A _Malfoy_ in _Gryffindor_ —who’d’ve thought?”

The Malfoy boy did not seem to notice the whispers at all.

The strangeness of the Malfoy boy was lost on Albus the second his own name was called up, and his house was announced.

“SLYTHERIN!”

Albus wished he could tune out the whispers as easily as the Malfoy boy had when he walked to his table.

—

Most expectedly, Rose was in Gryffindor. She seemed to be the only one who was sorted in a more expected house. Rose didn’t care, but Albus was disappointed. He was alone in the Slytherin house—No brother or cousin to keep him company or sooth his worries of being a Potter in Slytherin.

His father, of course, reassured him. It wasn’t that Albus thought the house was bad—Of course not, his parents taught him it wasn’t—It was just more unwanted attention placed upon him. He could feel the eyes on him as he walked through the Slytherin dungeon, could hear the whispers of how strange it was that Albus Potter be in Slytherin.

He did his best to ignore it and try to look on the bright side of things.

For one, he wouldn’t have to share a dorm with his brother. James could be too much to handle and often times didn’t know when to stop teasing, so it will be nice to have a place Albus can go that James could not.

Green was a nice color, he thought. It matched his eyes. Yes, a green uniform will suit him just wonderfully.

His family won’t be upset that he’s in the Slytherin house—There will a bit of teasing, but that was to be expected from his family.

At the moment, that was all he could think of.

—

He was pleased to find that he and Rose shared a fair number of classes.

The next morning he hunted her down and found her stuffing her face with food. She had rushed over to him, fiery red curls bouncing around as she congratulated him on ‘breaking the mould’.

Easy for her to say, he thought.

She then took his class schedule from his hands and replaced it with a muffin.

When Albus started to take a bite, she was already pulling him out of the dining hall.

“We have Transfiguration in twenty minutes! Dad said that Professor McGonagall is really harsh on people who are late and the class is hard to find.”

Albus managed to finish the muffin by the time Rose was finished dragging him around, looking for the class that was, indeed, very hard to find. They had spent most of their time running around the halls and trying to understand the moving stair cases before they took a lucky turn into the correct class.

They made it with seven minutes to spare, and managed to find a seat next to one another.

Malfoy was seated just in front of them. He was easy to pick out with his bright head, even in a crowd of students shuffling around, trying to find their seats.

Albus paid less attention to the blonde and more attention to—

“…Why is there a cat here..?” He’d ask Rose, voice soft, before the cat, which sat on the desk with a straight back and sharp eyes, jumped off the desk and would transform into the Professor.

“Good morning.” She’d say, back straight as she looked out at her class, which was filled with many wide eyes.

“Welcome to transfiguration boys and girls. I assume that you all are well prepared and—Oh—“

McGonagall would stop talking suddenly, as Malfoy rose his hand. However, Albus noticed, he did not say a word. The professor, however, had a response despite the lack of communication.

“Oh, my apologies Mr. Malfoy, it slipped my mind.” She’d say, pulling her wand out and would cast some sort of spell.

“Now, where was I…”

As she spoke, her words formed beside where she stood.

“Oh, yes—If you are ill prepared, I encourage you to—Yes, Miss. Weasley?”

“I’m curious professor,” Rose would speak. “How come you have your words flouting about?”

Professor McGonagall would pause and glance at Malfoy.

“Well, Miss. Weasley….Mr. Malfoy here needs the spell in order to learn.” She’d explain, her tone as calm and casual as could be. “For you see, he is deaf.”


	2. Chapter 2

It did not take long for word to spread that Scorpius Malfoy was deaf.

As Albus sat in the dinning hall at dinner, eating fresh turkey with sweet potatoes and two rolls, he over heard some students chattering about the news.

“Do you think he's faking?”

“I dunno— did you see the note book he carries around?”

“I think he uses it to communicate. Kind of weird.”

“My mom said Malfoy’s are dramatic— I bet he's faking.”

Albus would take a bite of turkey, glancing at the Gryffindor table where he saw Rose get up suddenly and make a bee line to where he sat.

“Come sit with me.” She'd say, blowing some hair from her face as she pulled Albus up.

“What— but— am I allowed—“

“Like they'll tell you no!” Was her reasoning, forcing Albus up before shoving his plate in his hands and would pull him to the table. Once there, he'd watch his brother stand with a grin and bring him over.

“If it isn't my snake of a brother!” He'd exclaim while Albus flushed, sitting down.

“I just want you to know, I won't disown you on the holidays, weekends or birthdays, but the rest of the year is fair game.”

“Shut up James.” Albus would say, cracking a smile. His body felt warm with joy as he sat among familiar faces— even James’ teasing made him feel a bit more at home.

“Is it true that the Slytherin common rooms are super dark and cold? Like a prison?”

“That's going a bit far…. It's on the darker side but it's perfectly roomed temperature.” Albus would inform him a bit too seriously, pressing his fork against the sweet potatoes. As he was about to take a bite of food, he heard someone tapping on the table.

Albus would look up at a fair, smiling face. Scorpius Malfoy would give a wave before holding up his journal.

“Could you pass the tator tots?” The paper would read, in what Albus thought to be handwriting far too neat and practiced for someone their age.

Albus’ response would be a touch delayed, but he would suddenly, and quickly, grab the bowl of tator tots and would pass them to the boy. Once the bowl was out of his hands, Scorpius would lift up the journal and would point to a pre-written phrase.

“Thank you.”

He wasn't sure why, but the whole exchange felt terribly embarrassing.

However, it was not as embarrassing as what followed directly after.

“He's kind of weird.” James would say, biting into a roll. “I mean, needing to write down everything just to communicate? That's so troublesome. I wonder how much he can't actually hear.”

“Who knows…” Albus would shrug, focusing more on his food until he felt James stand up.

By the time he looked up, James would have ran half way around the table and would be making his way to the other side before standing behind Scorpius. James would rub his hands together, grinning wide as Albus felt himself sink in his seat.

“Helloooooo.” James would say, voice fairly normal.

“ _Hellooooo_ …!” He would go again, his tone louder. When he still had no response, James would lean in a bit more, closer to Scorpius’ ear—

“HEY!!”

James’ voice would carry throughout the dinning hall, a great deal of students looking around to find the source of the noise.

Albus felt his face warm as he watched Scorpius’ eyes widen in confusion and slowly glance around before looking behind him. He would find James standing there, holding his stomach as he laughed.

“Oh man! He really can't hear a thing!” James would crackle.

“James your jerk!” Rose would snap. “That wasn't funny!!”

James would keep laughing, ignoring Rose as Scorpius held up his journal at him.

“Huh? Pfft! No, I don't need anything.” James would snort, walking away to get back to his seat. Scorpius would watch him go, confused before setting his journal down. Albus would watch Rose stand up and smack James’ shoulder before walking away. He wouldn't watch where she went, as he was distracted by James leaning on him when he sat down and took Albus’ drink from him.

“Hey!” Albus would protest, reaching for this cup as James pushes him away before setting the now empty cup down.

“I needed it. My throat was dry from yelling.” He'd explain with a laugh. In that moment, as Albus reached to refill his cup, he saw Rose was across from him make herself comfortable next to Scorpius. He'd watch quietly as she wrote in the journal and would see Scorpius smile and write something down in response. Albus would avert his gaze for a moment, looking at his food before glancing up once more when he heard Rose giggle.

Rose was always the one who made friends easily, no matter where she went. It was only natural, he thought, that she'd grow to be friendly with a Malfoy. Not that it was a bad thing— but people would certainly talk about how odd it was.

—

Albus was fairly sure Rose might be Scorpius’ only friend.

They were a few weeks into the school year, and she was the only one he ever saw him spend time with. Any other occasions that Scorpius was with other kids usually meant he was being teased or tested on his lack of hearing. The teachers were much kinder then the students— professor Longbottom was especially attentive to meet Scorpius’ needs. He was, in fact, usually the teacher who broke up any instances where Scorpius was having a hard time. That wasn't too strange— Albus knew his uncle had a very strict opinion on bullying.

Having someone you normally call Uncle be a teacher at your school was complicated. Albus accidentally called him uncle in the middle of class his first week at school and wanted to die from embarrassment. It wasn't all bad though— it meant he already knew what Albus could and couldn't do regarding magic.

Herbology was _not_ his forte.

Scorpius seemed to know what to do though. Albus sat next to him in class and would watch him read the instructions carefully and manage the plants they were given. To be honest though, Scorpius was just…. Good at magic. He excelled in all his classes— way more then people thought he would, as Albus overheard often. The implied idea, Albus thought, was pretty rude. Despite his disagreement, Albus found he couldn't say anything when he over heard such claims. Regardless, he remembered seeing many shocked expressions, including Professor Flickwick, when Scorpius managed to cast the flouting spell with little need of words. That was advanced magic, he knew. But it didn't seem all that odd for him to be able to do that, since it was a rare occasion for Scorpius to speak.

When he did, ridicule often followed.

Albus had a hard time understanding him when Scorpius tried to speak. His word were mushed together and didn't sound right— but if he paid close attention, he found he was able to figure it out. He still wished Scorpius would keep quiet. He felt secondhand embarrassment every time he opened his mouth and even more discomfort when kids teased him.

What made it worse was Albus wasn't sure if Scorpius knew he was being teased. How could he, if he couldn't hear, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im at Anime Expo as I'm uploading this so my apologies if this chapter is a bit messy


	3. Chapter 3

Albus decided being in Slytherin really wasn't that bad. He made friends much more easily then he thought he would, and the dorms were starting to feel like home. A few months into the school year and he really felt like things were picking up for him.

He managed to make time for his family that resided in the school, of course. He saw James frequently—be it by choice or otherwise—and Rose made sure she and Albus spent as much time together as humanly possible.

Although half the time Rose came with a Plus One.

He never knew what to do when Rose brought Scorpius Malfoy along with her when they were to spend time together. Spending time with his cousin always felt natural— he never needed to question how he acted around her, but with Scorpius—he really didn't know him and had very little way of talking to him in a way that wasn't so tedious. It was like Albus trying to go home and find all the family pictures replaced with clown portraits. It was unfamiliar and horribly uncomfortable.

What's worse, Albus couldn't read Scorpius at all. He recalled his uncle Ron talking about how often Malfoy’s scowl and smirk, but this Malfoy didn't seem to do any of that. If anything, he seemed perfectly content and happy most of the time Albus saw him.

It was mostly frustrating, if he was being totally honest with himself. Trying to communicate with someone who couldn't hear was taxing. He didn't want to have to write everything down, and he didn't want to have to yell at him to try and get him to understand. Whenever Scorpius, via his ever present journal, asked him to repeat himself Albus found himself shaking his head. He didn't want to go through the stress of it.

What he hated most was how personal Rose took his behavior. Albus hadn't a clue why his cousin was so keen on being friends with him. He supposes it has to do with being in the same house, but other Gryffindor’s did not seem to have the same idea as Rose, as they tended to either blow him off or give him a hard time. He wondered if she just felt bad for him. That had to be it, he thought. Why else would she drag him all over the place?

When he brought it up to her, she gave him a look that Albus thought looked far too much alike to the look his Aunt gave him when he got in trouble.

“I can't believe you have to even ask that.” She'd say, arms crossed with a hard frown.

“I just don't understand it.” Albus would say, trying not to take offense to how offended she was by his question.

“Scorpius is a really nice boy!! If anyone bothered to give him a chance they'd see that. If you'd bother—“

“I do bother..!”

“Albus Potter no you do _not_! You ignore him as much as anyone else does! He's no different from us.” She'd say firmly, in the voice that told Albus there was no room for argument.

Maybe she saw something in him that Albus couldn't see. Regardless, it wasn't his business who his cousin spent her time with. However, it did not mean Albus wanted to be around him himself. He was sure Scorpius was nice enough— but being around him was embarrassing and what's worse, people always made a big deal of a Potter and a Malfoy spending time together.

It was just a lot of attention Albus did not want, and Scorpius Malfoy, whether it was intentional or not, drew attention to him everywhere he went.

—

The worst part about school so far had to be the fact that everyone felt the need to talk to Albus about his father.

He had hoped James would have let everyone get it out of their system, but James looked more like their mother, much like Lily did as well, and Albus looked too much like their father. This, sadly, invited a lot of…. Comments.

He did not like being compared to his father. Albus isn't his father, not by a long shot. He has none of his good qualities or bad qualities. He's not nearly as witty as he is (that went to James) nor is he so stubborn (Lily of course). Even Teddy has picked up many of his fathers traits and they're not even blood related.

Albus often wished he looked more like James. James loved the attention being Harry Potter’s son brought him, so if they switched looks, James could revel in the attention. More often then not, Albus caught James telling stories their father had told them growing up— the battle at Hogwarts, the fight between him and the Dark Lord… anything he could think of. It was annoying. It made people come up to him asking for the same tales or asking what he thought or wondering if they were true.

Some teachers were the same. Professor Slughorn was the worst. He seemed to believe Albus _was_ his father, and thus, held him to the same standard.

Which was odd, he thought. His fathers potions were subpar— Albus had not a clue why Slughorn thought he should be better then his father.

Living in his fathers shadow was troubling. He did not want to be compared to him yet Albus wanted to surpass him all the same. He just didn't know how.

Thoughts like these often popped into his head, kept him up at night.

But he supposes he shouldn't complain too much…. Some have it worse.

Much of the Slytherin house got bad mouthed— especially if their family had anyone who took part in the War who was on the wrong side of history. However, Scorpius Malfoy, as usual, seemed to be the schools most beloved target.

It wasn't unexpected. Albus was almost sure that even Scorpius himself knew that it would happen. It was rather unfair, he thought— this kid was given a hard time for both his family background and his disability. It was hard, watching it happen to him. His parents always taught him to never judge someone based on their family, so Scorpius would be no exception to that.

Sometimes he wanted to help.

Albus would see him get shoved into walls, his books thrown and spells aimed at him— he'd tell himself he would help him up, tell the students to leave him alone— they'd have to listen. He's Harry Potter’s son after all.

However, he could never seem to move. Without fail, Albus always found himself frozen in place, as if struck by a spell himself. He didn't want people to look at him, to talk about him, and as guilty as he felt, that fear often held Albus back.

—

Albus was at least seventy percent sure his uncle Neville was secretly trying to make him befriend Scorpius.

He sat them next to each other in class and often paired them together for class assignments. Rose wasn't in their herbology class, so unlike all their other shared classes, she could not be his partner. He had no way of protesting the partnership without it sounding terrible, so Albus bit his tongue.

They were currently studying different types of flowers that could be used for potions. The flowers Moly and Asphodel were the ones they were focusing on as of current, and thankfully, they were doing a bit of independent reading as Neville walked around the room to answer questions.

He was a good teacher, Albus thought, even if he was trying to force a friendship.

Albus, as he was reading, felt Scorpius tap his hand.

Albus would feel himself pull his hand down to his lap in response but would look up. Scorpius would smile and nudge the journal to him.

“I’m sorry, but during professor Longbottom’s lecture, I couldnt quiet catch what he said as the words faded too quickly. Could I please look at your notes?”

Albus would swallow hard, glancing at Scorpius.

Instead of writing his response down, Albus would simply hand him his notes.

Smiling, Scorpius would whisper a strange sounding thank you before copying his notes.

Albus would keep his hands on his lap as he read until his uncle made his way over to him.

“Do you have any questions?” Neville would ask, smiling kindly as he always does.

“I think I've got it.” Albus would say. “Professor Slughorn has mentioned these plants before, so I'm a bit familiar…”

“That's good.” Neville would say with a nod before glancing to Scorpius.

“And how is he doing?” He'd ask, with a look that said he expected Albus to know.

Albus would shrug. “He's copying my notes. He said the spell faded too quickly for him to read.”

“Oh no…” Neville would frown. “I'll have to work on that. Thank you for telling me Al.”

Albus would nod and turn back to his book, but would look up once more when he heard his uncle speak.

“I'm really glad you're helping him.” He'd say in what was supposed to be a causal manner. “He's had a hard time making friends…”

“…. Rose is his friend.”

“She is! He's mentioned her before. But you can never have too many friends.”

“… I guess that's true…” Albus would say, swallowing a bit.

There'd be a small but awkward silence that followed Albus’s words before Neville patted his back and focused his attention on Scorpius.

With a small tap on his shoulder, Scorpius’ attention would be on his teacher.

“Al told me that the spell faded too fast for you. I want you to know that I'll work on that. Do you have any questions?” Neville would say, his words naturally flouting before the blondes eyes.

Scorpius would smile and nod, once again verbally thanking him before going to his journal for the rest of the discussion.

Albus would keep his attention firmly on his book, hoping he could make himself look so focused no one will bother him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was written in bursts during AX and after so I apologize if it's messy. I have my lap top with me now so things should run more smoothly for now on.


	4. Chapter 4

Keeping to yourself is hard when you’re the son of the most famous wizard of the generation. While Albus wanted to make friends, people really only seemed to want him around because he was Harry Potter’s son. It was hard—What was harder was the obvious let down on their faces when they realized Albus, despite his looks, was not his father. In fact, he wasn’t even as good at magic like his father or brother or Rose. It invited a lot of teasing Albus wasn’t prepared to deal with, and as a result, found himself spending more of his free time in his dorm. All too often he heard whispers from his peers, wonder what was wrong with him.

But still, he managed to make _some_ friends. He made nice with a few Slytherin boys and one Hufflepuff girl from his herbology class.

And then there was….Delphi Diggory.

Albus hesitated to call her a _friend_ but he noticed she was always _around_ , whether he wanted her there or not. They shared most of their classes and she always had _something_ to say to him.

She seemed harmless enough. Albus just didn’t know what to think of her.

He knew she was one the people who took to giving Scorpius trouble, almost more then anyone else. Albus hadn’t a clue what she had against him, but she would tease him and then pretend to make nice with him. It was confusing, and not just for Scorpius—who never seemed to know what to do when she suddenly acted sweet as candy to him.

It was weird watching her act nasty and then turn around to Albus with a sweet smile.

—

Delphi was the one who escalated the bullying of Scorpius Malfoy.

They had been in Charms class when it happened—Professor Flickwick had stepped out with a student who cast the wrong spell and froze their hand. Scorpius had pushed back some of his oddly long hair to see what he was doing with his spell when Delphi pointed—

“Hey! What are those things in your ears?”

Scorpius looked at her and blinked before touching his ears. Naturally, he took to his journal.

“They’re hearing aids! They help me hear better.”

“I thought you couldn’t hear at _all_. Are you just a big lier?” Delphi huffed after speaking loudly at him. The other students had started to look when she spoke, as her voice demanded attention.

Albus witnessed Delphi pull the hearing aid out of his ear.

“Ah—“ Scorpius gasped at the sudden action and tried to reach for it. Delphi was fast though, and already moved out of her seat.

“It looks weird.” Said a boy, peering at Delphi’s hand.

“It’s _gross_!” Delphi had exclaimed—

It went downhill fast from there—Albus watched Scorpius try and get the hearing aid back, only for another student to pull the other one out of his ear as well. Albus didn’t have time to even think about telling them to stop when Delphi threw the hearing aids right out the window.

Scorpius had gasped, and with a pale face, rushed to the window—And for a moment. Albus thought he might try to jump after them.

“My hand feels gross!” Delphi would complain, sitting back in her seat as Scorpius stared out the window.

After that, Albus noticed Scorpius went through a number of hearing aids. It was like a game to his classmates—See how fast they could grab them and tease him before doing some damage.

One kid stepped on them and Albus noticed it looked like muggle technology. It was odd—How could it work at Hogwarts? Teddy tried to bring a music player to Hogwarts in his 6th year and it broke as soon as he entered the grounds…

He wasn’t curious enough to ask Scorpius though.

Regardless, the bullying persisted. In a way, Albus was almost glad for it. He didn’t like seeing Scorpius bullied—But….People bothered Albus _less_ when he was around. He knew it was wrong to think that, and he doesn’t wish it on him, but he can’t help but be glad that people leave him alone in favor for someone else.

In a lot of ways, even thinking that ugly truth made Albus feel gross. He told himself it was okay as long as he never bothered Scorpius. Its not a crime to mind your own business, right?

And then, late in November before transfiguration began, he got involved.

Scorpius had a new pair of hearing aids. It must have been his fifth pair, maybe? Albus lost count with how often people grabbed them. Delphi was leaning on his desk and pointing at Scorpius, who’s back was to them.

“I can’t believe he has another pair. Does he have a chest full of those ugly things?” She’d say. “He said it helps him hear, but that just means he’s not really deaf, you know? He’s obviously a lier.”

“Maybe he only has….a _little_ bit of hearing?” Albus had no clue why she wanted to talk to him about it. As he picked at his nails, Delphi went on.

“That still means he can _hear_.” said Delphi with a eye roll. “You should try grabbing them—Its really easy. He never see’s it coming.”

Albus swallowed hard, picking more.

“Uh….No. Its okay. I don’t think I could do it. I’d uh—probably miss.”

“No way! I bet you have good aim. Just reach over and…. snatch! Then toss it around! Its a lot of fun. Unless you’re _scared_.”

“I’m not _scared_.” Albus would frown, picking at his nails more nervously.

“Prove it then!” She’d say with a wicked grin. “I’ll make it easier for you! I’ll distract him—you don’t even have to toss them! Just grab them. I bet the other kids would think its funny too.”

“I don’t…” Before he could finish, Delphi was already off his desk and standing in front of Scorpius’ desk. She was making something of a spectacle of herself, dancing around and making faces at him. He seemed….distracted.

……He knew he shouldn’t.

He knew it was _wrong_. He knew it wasn’t fair to Scorpius and he knew he wasn’t minding his own business like he wanted to.

Delphi was eyeing him, some other kids who over heard their conversation were eyeing him too….

…Maybe just. Once. If he does it once, people might not think he’s so weird. They’ll think he’s normal. People will stop wondering whats wrong with Harry Potter’s son…

Albus swallowed hard, flexing his hands as he reached over. His heart was racing and guilt was already hitting him before he moved his hands—

Sucking in a breath, Albus quickly grabbed the hearing aids from his ears—he fumbled for a second before grasping them and pulling—

“I—Did it!” He’d breath, face red, hearing his heart beating loud as a dark haired Ravenclaw girl gasped.

It took several seconds for Albus to register why people were staring, including Delphi, and soon Albus’ red face would grow white.

Scorpius’ hands were over his ears and he was grunting like he was in pain. Albus saw blood dripping down his neck and felt a shock of panic rush through his body.

How—how did he—

Albus glanced at his hands. He saw his nails were red and realized he must have—clawed him when trying to grab his hearing aids.

Another wave of guilt washed over him, and then ice cold fear when he heard professor McGonagall’s voice.

—

Albus didn’t know when he got to the head masters office.

It was a blur—He barely remembered what professor McGonagall had said to him. The walk to the office was a blank as well. He didn’t have Scorpius’ hearing aids in his hands anymore, and the blond boy was sitting beside him with the nurse, who was healing the scratches on his ears.

His nails were clean as well, although he doesn’t remember when he washed his hands.

“Bullying is not tolerated at Hogwarts Mr. Potter!” McGonagall would lecture, frowning down at him hard. “I would have never expected this sort of behavior from you.”

He wanted to say he was sorry. He was sorry. He already knew all the reasons why he was sorry, but he couldn’t seem to get them out of his mouth as Mcgonagall went on about how she couldn’t fathom why Albus would act in the way he did.

He thought it couldn’t get any worse until he heard his fathers voice.

“Thank you for coming Mr. Potter.”

“Of course Professor. What did you say was the problem?”

Albus wanted to die.

He heard the door open again—

“Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy, thank you—“

Albus glanced up to see a beautiful women kneeling down in front of Scorpius, cupping his face, and a tall man with slick blond hair who looked like Scorpius in the same way Albus looked like his father.

“What happened?” Mr. Malfoy would demand, jaw clenched as he gripped the chair his son sat in until his knuckles grew white.

“Well,” McGonagall started, pushing her glasses up her nose. “It seems young Mr. Potter thought it to be perfectly acceptable to try and steal young Mr. Malfoy’s hearing aids.”

“I—I wasn’t—Gonna steal—“ Albus managed to breath, but Mr. Malfoy had cut him off.

“Are you the one breaking his hearing aids!?” He’d demand, face reddening with anger as Mrs. Malfoy stood.

“Draco, calm down—“

“No, I won’t! Those are expensive and he needs them! I won’t have some idiot kid—“

“Okay, thats enough.” Harry would cut in. His father was frowning hard but couldn’t mask the confusion on his expression.

“Lets start from the beginning and with less name calling, yeah?”

“He’s right Draco.” Mrs. Malfoy would say softly, touching her husbands arm. “Lets discuss this rationally.”

By the look on his face, Mr. Malfoy didn’t seem to _want_ to discuss it rationally, but would sit down beside his wife and son anyway, his fists clenched tightly.

“Albus, why did you steal…..uh—What were they again?” Harry asked, clearly trying to get his facts straight.

“Hearing aids.” said McGonagall helpfully. “Young Mr. Scorpius can not hear.”

“Oh— _Oh_.”

The look on his fathers face was awful. Albus could tell he disappointed him terribly. Bullying someone was one thing, but bullying someone who couldn’t hear—

“…Um—I didn’t….I wasn’t trying to _steal_ …” said Albus slowly, keeping his eyes on his lap. “And—And I wasn’t the one who—broke them before…! I’ve never touched them before today…!”

“That doesn’t make it any more okay Al.” His dad said, taking his glasses off as he rubbed his face. “You don’t take things that don’t belong to you and you certainly don’t take something as important as hearing aids..!”

“I know—I’m sorry. I’m _really_ sorry…I don’t know why I did it but—I didn’t mean to _hurt_ him—“

“What— _hurt him_?” Harry said, looking even more thrown then before.

“When young Mr. Malfoy’s hearing aids were taken, it would seem young Mr. Potter drew blood.” said McGonagall, gesturing to Scorpius, who’s mother was touching the area, inspecting the wounds closely.

“It was an accident! I really didn’t mean to hurt him!” Albus said, green eyes wide as he felt his hands shake. He wasn’t sure if any one here believed him. He knew Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy must not have, and his father looked like he didn’t even know Albus anymore.

His dad rubbed his forehead as he looked at Mr. Malfoy.

“I’m really sorry about this.” He’d say after a moment. “I’ll make sure Al is properly punished—“

“I should hope so.” Mr. Malfoy snapped. “My son doesn’t deserve this sort of treatment and these hearing aids aren’t cheap like those glasses you seem to keen on keeping all these years. Do my son a favor, and keep your son away from him.”

Albus winced, glancing at Scorpius as he tugged on his fathers jacket.

It was then Albus felt even more confused as he watched Scorpius wave his hands around and make strange gestures. What the heck was he doing?? Has he lost it?

Apparently not, because Mr. Malfoy would do the same thing right back to him. Mr. Malfoy would sigh and walk out of the room as his wife stood.

“I apologize—My husbands been very frustrated with whats happened to his hearing aids for the last few weeks.” She’d say softly. “Please don’t think badly of him. Hearing aids are very hard to come by in the wizarding world after all. Professor, might we please take Scorpius out of class for the rest of the day?”

McGonagall hummed, glancing between her and her son.

“Very well. Before you go, I would like to offer a proper punishment for young Mr. Potter. I will be taking 100 points from Slytherin and he will be serving a months worth of detention under the eye of Mr. Filtch.”

Albus winced but didn’t complain. It was a fair punishment after all….

His father and Mrs. Malfoy seemed to agree. She’d tap her son’s shoulder and did the same weird hand waving at Scorpius before he stood.

With that, they took their leave, and soon after so did Albus and his father.

—

He was grounded on top of dealing with detention. Albus wasn’t allowed to do anything but study for a month and Neville was the one who was to make sure of that.

Facing Neville was somehow a lot harder then facing his father. Maybe its because he knew Neville had been bullied throughout his school years. He didn’t want him to think of Albus any differently, even if he deserved it. He knew he had to know if only because word spread around the school about the trouble Albus got into. When he saw him in class, the expression he was given made Albus sick to his stomach and he ran out of class as soon as it was over.

And, despite the fact that Albus did what he did mainly to be accepted by his peers, he got the exact opposite of what he wanted. Word spread fast about how not only was Albus the first Potter to be in Slytherin, he was a bully as well. People shoved him and bad mouthed him to his face, demanding to know if he’ll do the same to them.

“You think cause you’re a Potter you can do what you want?”

It wasn’t fair. He did it once and he gets bad mouthed. What about everyone else who did it? Why do they get off scot free?

Albus was frustrated. Even Rose was mad at him, although she couldn’t focus on Albus’ bad behavior too much. Because of her friendship with Scorpius, she got teased a lot as well. Saying she treated him like a charity case, that she had a crush on him…

Man. That kid just ruins everything, he’d think.

Regardless of his frustrated feelings, he still felt guilty. He never got to properly apologize to Scorpius for what he did, although he’s not sure the boy would care to listen to it. The only good thing that came out of this was no one tried to steal his hearing aids again. Professor McGonagall put out a statement stating that if anyone tried to fool around with his hearing aids again, each house would loose 100 points.

No one wanted to do that, so people stopped.

When he tried to escape from his class, Neville stopped him at the door.

“Can we talk?” he’d ask, pulling Albus aside. He’d wait for the class to empty before speaking.

“Al, what happened between you and Scorpius?” He asked, brows furrowed with concern. “Its not like you do what you did.”

Albus frowned and looked down, pulling at his tie.

“I don’t know….I just—I thought people would leave me alone if I did it…Everyone kept talking about how there was something wrong with me and I just—I thought…No one believes me but—but I didn’t mean to hurt him..!” Albus blabbered, his eyes stinging with frustrated tears.

He felt Neville’s hand on his shoulder.

“I believe you Al.” He’d say softly. “I don’t think you wanted to hurt him. And I know it can be hard to resist pressure like that from your classmates…But its not worth hurting someone to gain acceptance. Physically or otherwise.”

Albus sniffled, rubbing his eyes.

“I know….You’re right. I feel really bad about it. You don’t hate me…?”

Neville would snort and give Albus a hug.

“I could never hate you Al! You’re a good kid. You just have a lot of pressure on you.” Albus felt his hand ruffle up his already messy hair.

“Have you apologized to Scorpius?” He’d ask as Albus rubbed his cheeks dry.

“Well….No. I mean—I apologized in the headmasters office but….”

“Maybe you should tell him your sorry.” Neville suggested gently. “I think he’d really appreciate knowing that you’re sorry.”

And so Albus wrote a small letter.

For as short and simple as it was, it look Albus two hours to figure out what to say. He was worried if Scorpius read the note and thought his tone was mean or careless. He wished he could make himself as clear as possible, but this was all he could do.

When Albus was nearing his third hour of brain storming while under the covers in his dorm late at night, he finally wrote up something he felt okay with.

_“Scorpius, I wanted to say I am really truly sorry for what I did. Not because I got in trouble, but because I knew what I did was wrong and I did it anyway, and you got hurt because of me. I won’t make excuses and you don’t have to forgive me. I am really sorry and I promise I’ll leave you alone for now on. I hope the scratches are all better too. I’m sorry.”_

Feeling happy with his note as well as extremely tired from the late hour, Albus’ decided to give him the note tomorrow.

—

He kept chickening out.

Every time he saw Scorpius, Albus would think, ‘this is it! I’ll go and give him my note!’ and then found himself frozen in place.

They share every class and he’s wasted every opportunity. He tried to have Neville give it to Scorpius, since the boy seemed to spend a lot of time in the herbology room, but his god father told him it was important for Albus to do it himself.

By the end of the day, Albus was picking up trash by the lake as instructed by Mr. Filtch for his detention, cursing himself for his cowardice.

It was then, however, that he saw Scorpius. But he wasn’t alone.

Rose was with him, but they were surrounded by three boys. Rose was standing between them and Scorpius, yelling at them to go away. However, they laughed and shoved her into him.

“You’re always defending him! Do you have a crush on him or something Weasley?”

“I do not!” She’d exclaim, cheeks red at the accusation.

“I bet she does! Must be nice to have a boyfriend who can’t hear your annoying voice!” The boys laughed and Rose’s face grew redder then her hair. Albus frowned and would start to walk over. Sneaking up on them, Albus lifted the rank and would hit their backs.

“OW!” They’d cry.

“Go away!” Albus demanded, gripping the rake.

“Who’re you to tell us what to do?!” One boy would snap, reaching for his wand—

He was too slow, however, because Rose used this chance to get her wand out and casted a spell on the boys. The boys suddenly flew up high in the air before crashing down into the water. They’d swim out with a struggle, obviously shocked by the sudden action and panted hard when they emerged from the water.

“We’ll get you for this!” One would cough, who upon closer inspection looked like one of the boys James spent time with.

Embarrassed by their failure, the three boys ran away, tripping over their wet, heavy coats.

Albus let out a sigh, rubbing his face.

“Are you alright?” He asked Rose, who looked upset and embarrassed.

“I’m _fine_.” She’d mutter, putting her wand away. She’d look up when Scorpius tapped her shoulder and made a few hand signs at her.

Rose shook her head at him.

“Thanks for the help Al.” She’d say, fixing her robes before straightening her back and looking at Scorpius.

“I’m…getting….dinner—No—I’m going…to eat…” She’d speak slowly, moving her hands around as she spoke. Albus tilted his head and squinted at them.

Scorpius nodded, patting her shoulder before she quickly made her exit.

Albus swallowed hard, gripping his rake as he watched Scorpius gather his bag and journal, which was wet from falling in the water.

Its now or never, Albus thought, and he’d step forward, tapping his shoulder.

“H-Hey..!” he’d say when Scorpius looked up with wide gray eyes.

“Um….here..!” Albus thrust his note out after fumbling to pull it out of his robes. Scorpius blinked and took the note and began to read it. Albus shifted in front of him and felt himself sweat nervously as he waited for a response.

“Ah….Tank yew…” Scorpius said, looking at Albus as he folded the note up and placed it in his pocket.

“…Oh. Thank you.” Albus muttered, understanding. “Yes, well….I’ll leave you be then.”

When Albus began to walk away, he felt Scorpius grab his robe.

“What—“ He’d start, before Scorpius made some…

Hand movements at him. What even was that? He pointed at Albus and then at himself before he held his hands together and then moved them downward, almost like he was shaking his own hand.

“I don’t know what you’re doing.” Albus told him, and tried to walk again, but Scorpius grabbed him.

When Scorpius tried to do the hand movements again, Albus felt himself grow annoyed. It must have shown on his face, because Scorpius pulled out that stupid journal again to write.

“No! Look—Look at me!” Albus would exclaim. “I don’t know what you’re saying! I don’t get you! I don’t understand why you do this!”

Albus grabbed his journal and waved it around. “This is annoying! I don’t want to write in it! I don’t want to talk to you! I just wanted to apologize—so leave me alone! All you’ve done is—is cause me trouble! You even got Rose made fun of! I’m sorry that I hurt you. Now just leave me _alone_.”

Albus spoke loudly—Both out of pure aggravation and for Scorpius to hear him, assuming he could catch anything he said. He was sure he did, because Scorpius stared at him for a long moment as an unreadable look passed over his pale face. He pushed his hair back and looked down before nodding slowly.

Scorpius gripped his bag and walked away from Albus, making his way across the bridge to head back to the school.

Albus was left alone, breathing hard from his outburst.

“…Wait—Wait! Your—Journal…”

Albus looked at the journal and thought about returning it to the boy, but decided against it. He had a feeling that Scorpius didn’t want it. He carried the journal with him everywhere, so to leave it behind…

Albus felt a strange weight on his shoulders, similar to the guilt he felt, which was starting to become all too familiar a feeling.

He’d shove the damp journal in his bag and grab the rank and the bag of trash and leafs he cleaned. He’d report to Mr. Filtch and would be excused for dinner.

Once at dinner, Albus noticed Scorpius wasn’t at the Gryffindor table.

However, it wasn’t his business, he’d think. He doesn’t want anything to do with Scorpius. It’ll be easier for the both of them if they kept their distances, so he wont worry.

And yet, he held on to the journal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've never read or seen The Cursed Child lmao but I needed some one to be a type of antagonist so here we are. I'm gonna try and not use her too much since I don't like writing Characters I don't know. Its also been a l o n g time since I played with the HP characters so I'm still trying to get comfortable writing some of these characters. 
> 
> ANYWAY long chapter. Damn. I tried to check for mistakes but if there are any I missed (and I'm sure there are lmao) let me know I'll fix it right away.


	5. Chapter 5

Time passed without issue and winter break was drawing near. Albus found himself busy with his studies and last few weeks of detention, but it wasn’t until the last few days of school that he realized he never saw Scorpius around much anymore. He assumed it was due to him not paying attention, and choose not to think too deeply on it.

Weeks went by in a blur. Albus picked up trash and spent his time studying. He blocked out the whispers of passing students when he cleaned, gripping the broom with tired hands. Ever since he lost those points for his house, many of his own house mates spoke poorly about him. And loudly. He was thankful for the term to end—Albus could only take so much more of the whispers that followed him around the school, setting him on edge.

Soon enough though, he was on the train home, and even sooner, in his mothers arms.

He missed his mum. He missed his sister—He missed his dad and Teddy and—

He missed his whole family, and right now, being hugged and smothered by his mum was the best thing in the world.

When you had a big family like Albus did, you didn’t have a lot of time to yourself. His home was never empty, and rarely had less less then five people in the home on a normal day. Since he and his brother and cousin were home, the house was filled with many aunts, uncles, grandparents and cousins. Noise followed Albus every where he went—laughter, screams and cries—

Albus was so terribly happy to be home. It was nice to be somewhere were he wasn’t the center of negative attention.

…Well he wasn’t the center of much attention at all. Too many people. And while that may bother Albus on a normal day, he found himself enjoying the peace of his family forgetting to ask him how school was.

—

Several weeks into winter vacation, Albus noticed Rose sulking. She wasn’t normally a sulker—Rose tackled her problems head on and had no time for moping about. But thats what she’s been doing for days, and Albus was terribly confused. He did not approach too quickly, as Rose may not be in the mood to discuss her woes, but once it was getting closer to the date of their leaving for Hogwarts, Albus figured he may as well ask her.

Rose frowned hard at Albus when he asked what was wrong. Albus worried he may have said it in a rude tone, or maybe Rose really didn’t want to discuss it and was going to bite his head off for even daring to ask but—

“If you must know,” Rose said, looking away from Albus and to her book of spells. “Scorpius told me he doesn’t want to be my friend anymore.”

To say he was thrown would be an understatement—Albus felt like the wind knocked him over and rolled him down a hill.

Why did Scorpius break off their friendship? What reason could he have had? Rose was nice to him, and enjoyed spending time with him—At least, as far as Albus could see.

When Albus asked, sputtering and shaking his head in confusion, Rose looked at him from past her curly red hair.

“He sent me a letter two weeks ago,” She explained, tone even. “He said that he didn’t want to cause me anymore trouble and that we shouldn’t be friends. I tried to send him more owls, but he hasn’t written back.” Roses eyes would go back to her book.

“I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

Despite how cold she was acting—Albus knew that his cousin was hurt. He could tell in how she was avoiding showing any emotion in front of him, and even though Albus shouldn’t—He felt incredibly responsible.

—

Winter break was over then, and soon they were back in school.

Albus had hopped the whispers would have stopped with the several week break, but he was wrong. He was pushed and shoved often, berated with words and all he wanted was to go back home again.

He started sitting in the back of class, to keep attention away from him. He sat at the far end of the Slytherin table during breakfast, lunch and dinner, trying to will himself to be invisible. Albus found himself wishing now more then ever that he was the one who got their dads invisibility cloak, not James.

He didn’t think about Scorpius. Albus isn’t sure he can recall seeing Scorpius the rest of the school year, or even the next year. If he thinks hard enough, he can recall a blonde head somewhere in his memories. He knows he’s seen him around—they share a number of classes after all— but Albus never pays him any attention, too absorbed in his own woes.

Years passed and little changed. Albus at 16 still tried to hide from his peers. It got easier, he thinks—Maybe? Or is he just used to people making fun of Harry Potter’s failure of a son? He wasn’t sure he’d ever escape the ridicule, even when he enters the wizarding work force. People will always expect more then what he can give them.

He was tired. Albus was so…tired of being a failure. He has no motivation and wanted it all to be over and done with—He wanted to sleep and never have to deal with anything ever again—never have to deal with the whispers, the jeers…

However, one afternoon during winter break—Albus was packing his bags so they were ready when he has to leave for school in a few weeks, he found something. Shoved in an old book bag Albus grew out of in his third year, hidden under his Hogwarts robes that were thrown about his room, he found Scorpius Malfoy’s old journal. Memories hit him like the whopping willow and Albus almost threw the journal away the second he found it.

For whatever reason though, he made himself comfortable on the floor and opened it.

The first few pages were simple enough. Lots of, ‘can you repeat that?’ “What did he say?’ ‘Can you explain that please?’ Followed by simple answers in various different hand writings. Albus saw his own a time or two and he saw Roses a number of times. Out of respect, Albus’ kept his eyes away from looked to be their private conversations. However, as Albus turned the pages, he noticed a pattern.

Loads more ‘I’m sorry’s’ were written in Scorpius’ handwriting. Loads more insults—Words Albus wasn’t sure first years were allowed to know—Not just about Scoprius’ deafness, but about his family. He’s been called a Death Eater, scum, said he and his family should go to Azkaban where they belong—

It only gets worse from there. Albus looked away for a moment and closed the journal—It was then that he realized how fast his heart was beating.

He thought back to that day—The day he accidentally kept this journal. He yelled at Scorpius and took his frustration and anger out on him. He was trying to tell him something and Albus didn’t even try to understand him—He never tried to understand him. No one really did, except for Rose, and Albus had managed to push those two apart, albeit unintentionally.

Albus always thought about how alone he felt, how awful he felt when people bullied him…But Albus always had his brother, his sister, cousins—Albus, no matter how alone he felt, was never truly alone.

Scorpius… He never had anyone, did he..?

—

Albus isn’t sure when he decided to do it, but with the last two weeks left of winter break, he took off to Muggle London to buy BSL books. He bought as many as he could and went to as many workshops as he could manage before he had to leave for school.

Along with studying for his normal classes, Albus invested any and all his free time to reading the books he had bought. It was tricky at first, but Albus felt that he was slowly getting the hang of it. He just wished he could practice with someone. He was more eager then ever for summer vacation to start. Albus wanted to attend more workshops to try and speak in sign language with other people. He refused to face Scorpius until he mastered the language—Anything less the perfection is not acceptable.

He kept his studies a secret. He did not want to explain why he was learning it, and have to go through the whole story of his guilt.

That didn’t stop Lily from finding out.

She caught him on the train home and bombarded him with questions until he gave her a half truth about how he just really wanted to learn because it was a useful skill. Not a lie, but not his real reason of course. Lily then, of course, demanded he teach her BSL.

Normally Albus would be reluctant to involve his little sister in his personal affairs, but he really did need someone he could practice with, and Lily….does not take no for an answer anyway. He spent the entire summer going to workshops with her in London, studying the books and talking with her in BSL. They even took a trip to Diagon Ally into the book store to see if they could find any sign language books for magical terms.

It took a stupidly long time for them to find _one_ book. Naturally, they had to share it—But since it was Albus who paid for it, he got first dibs, to which his darling little sister pouted and huffed about.

By the time his seventh year started to rear its head, Albus felt he had a very firm grasp on the language.

Now he just needed to get the courage to actually talk to Scorpius Malfoy. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uploading this at midnight so again, I apologize for any errors. On the plus side we should be getting to the good stuff in the next chapter.
> 
> Also, I'm sure it goes without saying but BSL is British Sign Language


	6. Chapter 6

Albus may or may not be chickening out hard.

He had seen a blonde head aboard the train but had convinced himself that, you know, its such a long trip and Albus shouldn’t corner him. Then he saw him from afar after dinner and he reasoned with himself—because after such a long trip, he’s surely tired! Albus shouldn’t bother him when he’s going to go rest. The next day he told himself that Scorpius would be too busy trying to adjust to his new classes so best let him get settled in.

It’s been three weeks since Albus let Scorpius settle in. He’s sure the block is settled in plenty at this point. The only other excuse he had was that Albus wasn’t as good at sign language as he should be.

(Even that was also a poor excuse. The teachers at the workshops said Albus was a fast learner and, aside from perhaps a few words, was perfectly capable of signing without error).

At the end of the day, it was Abus’ cowardice thats stopped him from approaching Scorpius. He knew this and hated himself for it. He felt so nervous, trying to think of what to say to him, how to say it….What if he hates him?…thats expected. Deserved, even. But what if he refuses to listen?

….Well, after what he’s been through, he really doesn’t have to make the time to listen to Albus. Oh Merlin his head hurt. This was so stressful.

As Albus walked aimlessly through the hallway, he’d rub his face, groaning loudly in his frustration. When he let his hands drop to his sides—

There—

Longer then usual blonde hair, pointed features, pale skin and light eyes—

For a moment, Albus felt time slow as his face turned, taking in the sight of him walking out of what might be the library. The early morning light filled the hall and hit the young man, making him glow with the help of his incredibly pale features. It was like a dream where Albus was meeting someone he had never met, yet felt unforgettably familiar. In a way, it was true. He hasn’t truly seen Scorpius since they were children….

When Scorpius passed him, time sped up, and Albus found himself realizing that this was his chance, and acted without thinking.

“Malfoy! Hey—Malfoy—“ Albus exclaimed, grabbing his shoulder.

Scorpius froze, obviously startled by the shoulder grab—Albus quickly let his hand drop— and turned around. His blue eyes widened at the sight of Albus before him and for a moment, Albus really took the other boy in. He was much taller then he recalled. At eleven, Albus was taller then him, now it seemed Scorpius could easily look at the top of his messy head. He was much more angular as well, with high cheek bones and a sharp jaw….

How did Albus manage to ignore someone who stood out so much for six years?

Albus found himself staring stupidly at Scorpius before waving his hand.

“Heeeeey….Do you remember me? Albus Potter…?” he’d say, verbally, forgetting to sign in all his nervousness. Dear lord he’s sweating already.

“…..”

Scorpius looked at Albus for a long time, shifting in place before giving him a tight, awkward smile and….

Walking…..away….

…..What. No. Oh come on, thats not fair! He can’t run away!

“Wait! WAIT—“ Albus practically shouted, grabbing Scorpius’ wrist. He felt him tug his wrist back defensively—Understandable, Albus can only assume how crazy he looked right now. Albus lifted his free hand when Scorpius turned around to face him once more.

“Wait! Please—Listen—Okay look—“ He’d breath, letting go quickly to use his hands.

“I didn’t mean to startle you! I just want to talk. Can we talk? Please?” Albus signed as well as spoke. He found it was easier for him to keep his words together when he spoke them as well.

Scorpius stared at him, yet again, but this time his expression was different. Instead of uncomfortable, he looked positively shocked. His eyes were perhaps the widest Albus had ever seen and his mouth hung open like a dead fish. Finally, Scorpius would lift his hands—

“You know sign language!?” He’d say, still wide eyed.

Albus swallowed hard. He’s listening….

“Yeah. I studied it really hard. I…I wanted to talk to you…” Albus said, taking a breath.

“You studied it so we can talk?” Albus nodded in response and watched Scorpius press his lips together firmly in thought.

“….Alright. Follow me, please.” He’d say at last, and Albus gave a heavy sigh when he did. He was terribly worried he’d be shoo’d away.

Albus followed Scorpius down the hall quietly, noticing he was leading him to the herbology room. It was early, and he knew Neville didn’t have any early classes.

“Hey.” He’d say, tapping Scorpius’ shoulder. “I don’t think we can be in here right now.”

“Its fine.” Scorpius shook his head. “I’m allowed.”

The comment was a bit confusing to Albus, but he chose not to push it. Albus followed Scorpius to a table and watched him for a moment as he watered some plants. He felt a bit out of place, even as Scorpius put the watering can down to turn his attention to Albus.

“You wanted to talk.” he’d remind him.

Albus gave a nod before standing in place for another long, uncomfortable moment. Finally, he’d will his body to move and would rummaged though his bag.

“I wanted to return this to you.” Albus explained. “Back then…I didn’t realize it, but I had taken this from you. I kind of forgot I had it but….I thought you might want it back.”

Scorpius took the old journal and stared at it. Albus found he couldn’t read his expression. Was he happy? Upset? Indifferent?

“Thank you.” Scorpius finally said, setting the journal down. “I really appreciate you returning this.”

“Of course. I…” Albus swallowed hard, pulling at his tie.

“You can say no, its fine, really—But I was hoping…is it okay if we can be… friends…?” Albus said, his words spoken faster then his hands could move.

Scorpius, yet again, looked surprised at Albus’ words. Albus was absolutely sure and prepared for Scorpius to say no. However, his light eyes fell back on the journal for a second, a small smile visible on his lips before he nodded.

—

Albus was embarrassed for several reasons. He was so nervous by his interactions with Scorpius that he sped through everything he wanted to say. He’s surprised Scorpius could understand him with how messy his signing was—And despite what he said, Albus couldn’t read him very well so he had no idea what Scorpius really thought of their interaction.

Worst of all, he found he finally understood what Scorpius was trying to tell him all those years ago by the lake.

“Can we be friends?”

Albus brought his pillow to his face and screamed, earning a Shut The Hell Up by his room mate.

—

About four and a half days have passed since Albus’ encounter with Scorpius. Despite being the one who instigated the meeting, as well as asking for a hand in friendship like a damn fool, and despite Scorpius agreeing to said hand in friendship, for whatever reason—

He still found it hard to approach him. What the bloody hell was the matter with him?

The block is going to think Albus played him, and he can’t have that. He just—can’t approach him! They’re not close friends, after all. What if Scorpius is just being polite?

Even so, after that fateful encounter, he absolutely saw Scorpius everywhere now. In the halls, in class, during dinner—He saw him more then Albus had ever seen anyone in such a short amount of time. He’s not even sure he saw James all that often when he was in school.

The boy practically glowed and demanded Albus’ eyes to follow him now that they’ve spoken. He often wondered how he managed to completely ignore such a eye catching person for so long…

Whats worse, Lily had him figured out. She cornered him at lunch, forcing herself next to Albus at the Slytherin table, even when his fellow housemates gave her nasty looks.

“You can’t keep sitting at my table, Lily.” Albus told her.

“I don’t care. Did you learn BSL to talk with the Malfoy kid?”

Albus sputtered, dropping his fork in his beef.

“Thats a yes.” His baby sister would gift him with a smug look, crossing her arms.

“Thats not a yes, and how do you know—“

“Hellooooo? House mates~?” She’d say, flashing her red and gold tie. “I’m not stupid. He’s the only deaf kid at Hogwarts, plus I talked to him.”

“You talked to him?!” Albus would hiss. “Lily, don’t bother him—“

“I wasn’t bothering him!” She’d snap. “He’s really nice! I told him that I was learning BSL and he offered to help me. Then I talked about how you got me interested in it, and he said you guys talked recently. Which is curious, if you ask me.”

“Well its a good thing I didn’t—“

 _“If you ask me_ , I’d say its rather convenient for you to suddenly have an interest in sign language. Curious, Curious~”

Albus rubbed his face. Lily is too smart for her own good.

“Mind your business.” Said Albus, finally.

“I don’t care if thats why you learned.” Lily would add, ignoring his attempt at a parental tone of ‘this conversation is over’. “In fact, I think its nice. I never see him spend time with anyone. I always felt really bad but didn’t know how to help him, since we couldn’t communicate. Anyway, when are you going to meet him again?”

“None of your—“

“Oh blah blah. _When_.”

“…..I don’t know. I’m not sure how to approach him again.” The answer earned him a groan from Lily.

“You need to come out of your bubble for once! Just go up to him and talk!”

“Its not that easy!”

“Yes it is! Watch!”

 _Watch_ —

Before Albus could do a thing about it, his sister flew up and ran across the dinning hall to where Scorpius sat. Why is she so meddlesome?! Albus forced himself up and quickly went after her. He’d see Scorpius smile as Lily signed whatever it was she was saying, and Albus quickly grabbed her hands.

“Lily, you’re being _annoying_.” He hissed, flashing an awkward smile at Scorpius.

“And _you’re_ a big dumb coward!” She said back, sticking her tongue out at him.

Albus groaned, wrapping his arms firmly around Lily so she couldn’t sign—When he looked up, Scorpius stared at them like they were crazy.

Albus let his sister go.

“Sorry about that—She’s crazy. And a bundle of energy.” Albus said quickly.

“Its alright. I just didn’t know what you guys were saying.” Scorpius said, smiling a bit.

“My brother wants to talk to you!” Lily would exclaim, signing as she spoke. Scorpius looked Albus’ way, and he felt his face warm.

“Lily. Go away.” He said through a clenched jaw. His sister gave him a sweet smile and skipped off after waving to Scorpius.

“…..” Albus sat down in front of him and looked at his hands for a while, until he heard Scorpius tap on the table to get his attention.

“Are you okay?” He asked, brows furrowed with concern.

“Oh…” Albus swallowed hard. “Yeah. I’m fine. I’ve just been thinking and…I want you to know, I meant what I said the other day. About being friends?” Albus said, signing carefully.

“I just don’t know where to start. I don’t want to be a fake about it, you know? I want to actually get to know you.”

“I feel the same.” Scorpius said, smiling softly as he pushed some hair out of his face. “I’ve been thinking the same thing. I don’t want us to be friends if you’re just going to pity me. Not that I think you are!”

“No—Its okay! I get it.” Albus took a breath. “You probably get that a lot, right?”

Scorpius shrugged at that. Albus didn’t know how to interpret that response.

“Do you want to go to the herbology room with me?” Scorpius asked. “No one goes there at this time of night, so we can get to know each other more. If you’re not busy that is…”

Albus looked at Scorpius after he asked—He thought he looked nervous, which he had no reason to be. Albus has more reason to be nervous then the blonde does.

“That sounds like a good idea.” Albus would nod, looking around before stealing a basket of rolls.

“Lets go.” He’d mouth at Scorpius, who covered his mouth and stifled a laugh. Albus made it to the doors first and looked back to see Scorpius stealing several cookies. Albus laughed a bit, watching him shove them in his robes before quickly rushing out the door with him.

Maybe this won’t be so hard after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ya'll I am TIRED but I'm excited too. Things are finally happening here


	7. Chapter 7

As it turned out, it wasn’t hard at all spending time with Scorpius Malfoy. Despite all of Albus’ awkwardness and general nervousness about being around the boy, he found he really enjoyed spending time with him. The pair sat in the herbology room for longer then they were probably allowed just….talking. Asking each other stupid questions in an effort to learn about the other.

Scorpius liked the color blue, cats, and enjoyed reading books—his preference was nonfiction , Albus learned, and his favorite food was chicken basquaise, a French dish. Scorpius also knew how to sign in French, which amazed Albus, as he felt he was still trying to get the hang of signing in English. The bloke was sharp as hell, and just as witty, but he wasn’t condescending about it. Albus had discovered that what Lily said was correct—Scorpius Malfoy was, in fact, the nicest guy around.

It made Albus wish he gave him a fair chance when they were children. They….probably would have been pretty good friends.

Well, regardless— Albus was really enjoying himself. He can’t recall a time where he actually felt happy at school, at least not recently.

The pair have even started to sit next to each other in class. It wasn’t intentional—Albus woke up late and stumbled into class one morning to find his usual seat stolen, and Scorpius had offered the seat next to him. Since then, they’ve been sitting next to each other—Albus has even started to take notes for the other boy.

All an all, it was nice. However, he didn’t like how Albus always found Scorpius alone, and wanted to fix that. The bloke wanted friends when he was younger, right? Albus can get him friends. He thinks of Rose, and how Scorpius and Rose used to be close. He never really knew what happened to make them separate—Just that it was Scorpius who called off their friendship— but maybe they could be friends again?

He brought it up to Scorpius one day when they were near the lake. He looked sheepish when he asked and avoided Albus’ gaze.

“Whats wrong? Did something happen with you and Rose back then?”

Scorpius shook his head.

“No, nothing happened. Rose was a great friend and I really liked her.”

“So what happened then?”

Scorpius pushed some hair out of his face, lips pressed together in a neutral expression.

“She was getting bullied by her classmates because we were friends. I didn’t want to be the cause of her troubles, so I put an end to our friendship. I’m not sure she would want to be friends with me now.”

“Oh…” Albus muttered, feeling guilty. He remembers yelling at Scorpius about how Rose was being mocked because of their friendship….

“…If she still wants to be friends, would you be willing to try?” Albus asked, brows furrowed.

Scorpius blinked at him. “I suppose so. I don’t have anything against her after all.”

So be it—Albus was going to fix what he broke if it kills him.

And it just might—This was Rose, after all.

—

Albus was still close to Rose, as she was his cousin, but they did not often spend much time together at school. Rose had her own friends and, unlike Albus, had more of a personality that drew people to her. He was a little nervous about approaching her about this, as she was hard to find alone, but Scorpius deserved to have friends. Rose was the perfect person to re-invite into his life and Albus couldn’t see why she would say no to his offer.

He caught her in the library on a late night. Her wild red hair was up in a bun, loose curly strands tickling her cheeks. She was lazily reading when Albus sat in front of her.

“I have an offer to make you.”

“What could you possibly have to offer me?” Rose said, tone dry as she turned the page.

“Are you in a bad mood? I’ll come back when you’re not in a bad mood.”

“I’m not in any kind of mood.” She said, her tone expressing otherwise.

Best get this over with then.

“Would you like to be friends with Scorpius Malfoy again?” Albus asked, fingers playing with the corner of her book.

Rose barely glanced up at him when she responded.

“Why are you suddenly so chummy with Scorpius Malfoy?” She asked, blowing a curl out of her face. “Because last I remember you did everything in your power to pretend he didn’t exist.”

“Things change.” Said Albus, crossing his arms. “I want to make up for the crap I did.”

“It seems to me you’re just meddling.” Rose commented, closing her book.

Albus rubbed his face—She’s always so cranky.

“Listen, forget all that, alright? I talked to him and he said he wouldn’t mind being friends with you again. He’s just unsure if _you_ want to be friends again..!”

That seemed to get his cousins attention, as her movements froze for a slight moment as she stood up. Rose glanced at him as she pushed more loose hair out of her face with a stern expression.

“I’ll think about it.”

—

She didn’t think for too long, Albus found, as he caught sight of Rose and Scorpius a day later by the courtyard, sitting on a bench signing to each other—

Wait—Signing?? Rose knows sign language?? When the hell did she….

Albus took a breath before strutting over as causally as he possibly could.

It would have worked had Albus not taken a too large step and practically stumble against Scoprius’ back.

“Sorry!” He exclaimed quickly when Scorpius looked up in shock. He recovered well, however, and gave Albus a large smile and a wave. Albus may need about six years to recover from his blunder.

Rose was raising an unimpressed brow at Albus as he spoke to the both of them.

“Rose, how come you never told me you knew sign language?”

“You never asked and it was none of your business.”

Ouch.

“I didn’t think you would keep studying it after we went our separate ways. I’m really happy you kept at it.” Scorpius told her, smiling. Rose smiled at him in response. Why does he get Roses Nice Face and Albus gets her Scowling Face?

“Of course I did! I didn’t want you to be totally alone in our house after all. I suppose I also hoped that you would change your mind and want to be friends again.” admitted Rose, glancing to the side.

“Whatever the reason, I’m really happy.” Scorpius grinned, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze.

“Are you two friends again?” Albus asked, looking between them hopefully. Rose gave him a squinty eye’d look as Scorpius gave a breathy laugh.

“I think so,” The blonde said, pushing his hair out of his eyes. “What do you think Rose?”

“I guess~” She said, trying not to smile.

Thank goodness, Albus thought. He was almost sure Rose would say no just to spite him.

—

There was something pleasant in Albus’ stomach when he saw Rose and Scorpius together these days. Usually when they ate he saw Scorpius no longer ate alone—Rose took to sitting with him again and Lily even forced her way in occasionally. Scorpius looked to be a lot happier. It was a wildly different picture when compared to Albus, who still sat alone at his own table, picking at his food as he was too busy watching the girls and Scorpius enjoy each others company. Scorpius often liked to invite Albus to sit with him and the girls at their house table, an offer that Albus always tried to say no to but ended up being dragged over—Usually by Lily and sometimes by Scorpius as well.

Albus would never admit that being forcibly included felt nice. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter and also its been a while. Classes started up so I have less free time but don't worry, I'm still here.


	8. Chapter 8

Albus doesn’t dream often, but when he does, its almost always a memory. He enjoys the ones where he is a young child—usually during holidays such as Christmas, where he’s with his family and life is soft and enjoyable. Albus loves dreaming of vacations he’s gone on with his mother when she traveled for work and of games he used to play with James. He often wakes from those dreams feeling light and at peace when his subconscious reminds him of pleasant times he’s experienced. However, the mind is known for being the worlds largest backstabber and often loves to remind Albus of less enjoyable times as well.

In this dream, he is young and he is in his music class. Albus never liked music class if only because he wasn’t a terribly good singer and didn’t care to be the center of attention, but this dream had less to do with him and more to do with what he witnessed that day.

Scorpius was in that class, his dream reminded him, and Albus, even when sleeping, suddenly realized what he was going to witness all over again.

They were to sing a song as a choir, and Albus watched with heavy second hand embarrassment as Scorpius sung too early and horrifically off key. He watched Rose tap his shoulder and communicate with him that it wasn’t time for him to sing yet. If that wasn’t bad, Albus had to listen to the whispers of the children in response to the blunder— their mocking tones and unsympathetic voices echoing loudly in his mind before he woke up two hours earlier then he needed to.

As Albus lay in bed, he did not bother trying to sleep again. He didn’t want to risk the dream starting over, but he found he couldn’t stop thinking about it. He forgot Scorpius had that class—likely because soon after that incident he was taken out and placed in a different class, as they realized it wasn’t a good idea to have the deaf boy in the choir. He remembered Scorpius tried really hard to sing properly with the class, but it didn’t matter. No one wanted him there and they made that fact known in a number of unfortunate ways.

This thought plagued Albus for the rest of the day. He wondered how many things Scorpius missed out on growing up. While it wasn’t for him, a lot of his classmates enjoyed choir or even Quidditch. Based on what he knew about him, Scoprius seemed the type to want to do those sort of things….

…Maybe. Albus isn’t fully sure. Perhaps he should ask?

—

“Do you have any hobbies?”

Scorpius looked at Albus before chuckling and giving a nod.

“Of course I do. I know I study a lot but I do like to have fun.”

Albus smiled and shook his head. “Alright, so what is it?”

“I like garnering.” said Scorpius. “Its relaxing, tending to plants. I like reading—Don’t make that face! Reading is _fun_.” Scorpius laughed and shoved Albus playfully before tapping his chin.

“….Oh! When I’m at home I like to fly on my broom.”

Albus sat up a bit straighter when he said that.

“Really? You fly? Do you fly well?”

Scorpius gave a shrug. “I suppose I’m alright. My father thinks I’m quite good.”

“Have you….ever tried out for Quidditch?” Albus asked as casually as humanly possible. Scorpius blinked at him before playing with a strand of blond hair that was tickling his chin.

“I tried to my second year, but they told me I couldn’t try out.”

“What? why not?”

“I don’t remember.” He said, eyes shifting away from Albus, a habit he was starting to pick up on when Scorpius wasn’t being truthful.

“Scorpius, we’re friends now, aren’t we?” Albus asked with deeply furrowed brows. “You can tell me…”

Scorpius lips pressed together in a firm line, glancing at Albus with some uncertainty.

“Its not a big deal.” He started. “They just didn’t want to risk a deaf kid being on the field.”

“That is a big deal.” Albus said, frowning.

“Its not—Its—“ Scorpius sighed, pushing his hair back. “It was a….safety matter. They were worried that because I couldn’t hear that I’d get hurt. Its fine Albus.”

“Its not fair.” Albus argued. “Quidditch isn’t safe if you have hearing either! And by that logic my dad shouldn’t have played on account of his eye sight being the worst.”

“It was a long time ago, I’m not even upset about it.” Scorpius said, eyes shifting.

Albus huffed and leaned in.

“If you have a chance to join the team now, would you? Be honest.”

Scorpius looked at him, eyes a little large as he fiddled with the pages of his book.

“….I guess I would. It looks fun.”

—

Albus was on a _mission_.

He’s already helped Scorpius make friends, now it was time to give him some memories of Hogwarts that he’d truly treasure. Scorpius wants to be on the Quidditch team and Albus is going to make sure he has a fair chance.

It was a hard fight—He had to bicker and bargain and name drop his parents just so the Captain of the Gryffindor team would even consider allowing Scorpius to try out.

The excuses, at first, where what Scorpius said. The captain acted like he was worried for his safety. However, as they argued on, the truth came out.

“Look mate, its going to be way too much trouble having that block on the damn team.” Lionel Peterson said, his tone dripping in exasperation. “If he gets hurt, people will riot and if we lose because of him, people are going to hate him.”

“You’ve already decided that he’s not a good player.” Albus would frown. “All I’m asking for is you give him a _fair chance_. He wasn’t even allowed to try out in his second year—No one knows if he’s even good at flying yet.”

“Theres too much communication required for the game—“

“Not for a seeker there isn’t.”

Lionel rubbed his face hard, looking like he wanted to strangle Albus.

He might have, if he wasn’t a Potter.

“A fair chance to try out—Thats all I’m asking. If he turns out to be terrible then fine, but at least let him _try_. Gryffindor has been struggling ever since James left the team—what do you have to lose to let him _try_?”

Now Lionel _really_ looked like he wanted to strangle him.

“One chance.” He said through gritted teeth. “If he sucks, then he’s not on the team. No excuses.”

—

Scorpius was shocked when he found out Albus had pulled several strings to get him to try out for the Quidditch team. At first he seemed embarrassed and told Albus he shouldn’t have done that—

But it didn’t take long before he was smiling in his excitement at the mere prospect of trying out.

Albus wished he could have watched but he had already annoyed Lionel enough as it was and he wasn’t really welcomed to the try outs, seeing how he was in a different house. He spent the whole time pacing and picking at his uniform as he waited for Scorpius to come out with some sort of news. He kept going back and forth between having faith in Scorpius and also worrying about if he made a huge mistake. What if he was terrible and Albus accidentally created a whole situation where Scorpius embarrassed himself? Albus was thrilled the second the doors opened and he flew up as Lionel and Scorpius came walking out together, Lionel writing in Scorpius journal.

“So??” Albus asked, eyes wide as he bounced in place with anxiety.

Lionel finished writing and handed the book to Scorpius before looking at Albus.

“I kind of hate you and love you at the same time. We could have won a lot more matches if we let him try out earlier damn it.” He said, rubbing the back of his neck with irritation. It was now that Albus looked at Scorpius and saw him grinning.

“He got in? You got in!?”

“I’m a seeker!” Scorpius said, grinning wide.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO BEEN A WHILE the end of the semester is arriving so i will have more freetime soon i promise. I had two versions of this chapter written and decided this one worked better. please enjoy.
> 
> Again, unbeta'd if you see any issues let me know and ill go back and fix it


	9. Chapter 9

Lionel, it seemed, was keen on keeping Scorpius a secret. He made Albus swear not to tell anyone in Slytherin that Scorpius was the new Gryffindor Seeker (Nearly made him do an Unbreakable Vow), and didn’t even let his own team know that he was on the team until the very last second. So far, the only other person outside of Albus and the Gryffindor Quidditch team that knew about Scorpius’ new place on the team was Rose.

She wasn’t very happy about it.

Well, perhaps she wasn’t unhappy. She congratulated Scorpius and spoke with him about what he needed to do to prepare for the matches (Rose used to be their best Chaser before deciding to focus on her studies in her last two years at school). But anytime she looked at Albus she had nothing but a frown for him.

“Okay, please lets just—rip the bandaid off. What did I do wrong now.”

Rose gifted him with a stern look.

“Listen closely. I’m not saying its _bad_ that you’re doing nice things for him. I just think your motivations are crap.”

“My motivations?” Albus raised a brow.

“Yes. I think the only reason why you’re going out of your way to befriend him and do these really nice things is because you feel guilty for being a little arse back in the day.” Rose frowned, crossing her arms at him. “You’re trying to make yourself feel better.”

“Thats…!! I’m not…” Albus huffed, crossing his arms in what can be seen as a defensive manner.

“Is it so bad that I want to—make up for the things I’ve done?”

“No.” Rose said with a sigh. “Its not. But you’re clearly only sticking around him to make yourself feel better.”

“Rose, I swear thats not what this is.” Albus said, frowning hard. “Look—Yes, maybe I am trying to make up for the things that happened in the past but….I do like Scorpius. I think he’s a great bloke, and I regret never giving him a fair chance when we were kids…So believe what you want, but thats the truth.”

Rose took a deep breath, her mouth twisted into tight line.

“Whatever.” She said after a moment. “Do what you want. Just don’t hurt him.”

—

The first Quiddich match of the school year snuck up on Albus hard, and felt that he may be more nervous then Scorpius was right now, sitting besides his family, waiting for the game to start.

He didn’t have a chance to see him before the match—Lionel kept him out of sight from everyone all day. Rose was the only one who was able to meet with him before his first match, as she helped Scorpius understand what it was Lionel was saying. Albus was worried—What if Gryffindor lost to Slytherin? People would surely blame Scorpius—The deaf kid let on the team only to have him lose—It would be Albus’ fault for putting a target on Scorpius’ back again—And people would think Albus did it on purpose so his house could win—

“Chocolate frog Al?” Albus practically jumped at the sound of his brothers voice, but even more so with James shoving the box against his face. Albus grabbed it out of his hand with a huff.

“No, I’m fine.” He muttered, setting the box aside and out of his stupid brothers reach.

“You looked like you were about explode.” James laughed, easily grabbing the box of chocolate frogs with his stupid long arms.

“I wasn’t—I’m just nervous. A friend of mine is having his first match today…”

“Ohhh!!! He’ll probably fall off the broom and break his arm.” James laughed as Albus stared at him.

His brother is an idiot sometimes.

He wouldn’t have to listen to him long—as the crowd began screaming as the teams finally came flying out. Madam Hooch walked out onto the field and after a moments pause, released the balls. The teams went flying every which way—Slytherin scored first, and he heard his family groan beside him.

“Sorry, Al, no offense.” His dad said, fixing his glasses with a nervous chuckle.

“Its fine.” Albus really didn’t want his house to win this match anyway.

“Hey—Who’s the new seeker?” Albus heard his brother ask with a mouthful of food.

“Blond hair….Is that Malfoy’s kid!?” His uncle Ron gasped. “I’ll never get used to seeing a Malfoy with Gryffindor colors….”

Albus kept his eyes firmly on the field, watching Scorpius balancing expertly on the broom. He didn’t look bothered by all the commotion around him—He might have seemed nervous, Albus couldn’t quite tell with the distance between them— but he definitely looked focused. He didn’t move from his spot, unlike the Slytherin seeker, who was flouting around, looking for the snitch with ease. He must not view Scorpius as a threat—The Slytherin seeker was Jeremy Bolton, and Albus knew him to be extremely competitive. He’s put a few Quiddich players in the hospital wing with how rough he plays.

Albus felt a stab of fear and grabbed for the box of chocolate frogs.

Slytherin was scoring a lot of points and quickly—Albus only knew that because he kept hearing his family groan whenever it happened—It wasn’t looking good for Gryffindor and it seemed like their only chance at a win would be if Scorpius caught the snitch.

“This is hopeless.” Ron groaned.

“Its still early enough in the game…” Harry commented, eyes focused on the match.

“I don’t know—Slytherins already scored a lot. And I’m not sure the Malfoy kid will be any good. I wonder if he got in because Draco—Ow! Rose?! Did you pinch me!?”

Albus gave a breath of air when he glanced at Rose, who was eyeing her father down.

Scorpius still hasn’t moved from his spot, and Albus was beginning to think this may be a long match before he saw Scorpius suddenly fly downwards with incredible speed—

“Whoa—“ His father muttered, standing up to watch were the boy was going—It looked like he was going to dive right into the ground before he suddenly made a sharp turn—

“Its the snitch!!” James shouted, jumping up and down, popcorn flying all over Albus, who didn’t even notice due to how invested he was in what Scorpius was doing. Jeremy Bolton wasn’t paying a lick of attention it seemed, and only looked up when he heard the announcer comment on what it was Scorpius was doing.

Scorpius wasn’t just ‘okay’ at flying like he had told Albus—He was _amazing_. If it weren’t for his bright blond hair, Albus would have lost him in all the commotion. Scorpius was a blond blur around the field as he flew at an incredible speed. Albus heard the Gryffindor’s get louder with excitement, until Jeremy damn Bolton slammed his body against Scorpius—

Albus thought he might fall off his broom when he saw Scorpius sway to the side, but he held on tight and flew away from him while hanging upside down.

“Merlin…..”

Albus was going to have a heart attack at this rate.

Thankfully, Scorpius managed to get away from Jeremy jerk face Bolton and fixed himself on his broom nice and proper, flying in what looked to be a random pattern. Was the snitch going all over the place? Its possible, but either way, Jeremy meathead Bolton was trailing behind him aggressively. They continued like this for several minutes with no development, and Jeremy starting to slow down in his chase.

Albus watched as Scorpius took off in a different direction when Jeremy finally grew tired—

“What—what—“ Albus gasped, eyes wide as he watched Scorpius fly fast in a more fluid pattern this time with his hand reached out—

Loud cheers came next, his family jumped up and down in their victory as Scorpius held up the snitch.

Albus couldn’t even stop himself from jumping and screaming in his excitement—Because he won! Gryffindor won!!

—

Albus tried not too look too happy about the win when he passed several of his Slytherin housemates as he made his way to find Scorpius.

He was practically flouting—He couldn’t believe how easily Scorpius managed to fly circles around Jeremy! Albus was worrying over nothing!

He fought his way past the crowds and managed to find Scorpius being man handled happily by Lionel.

“You’re amazing, you know that!? A-MA-ZING!” He’d say loudly and slowly, grinning wide.

Scorpius had a big smile on his face while looking only slightly confused. He must have known he was being complimented though, because he verbally said thank you.

“No way! Thank YOU.” Lionel laughed, clearly on cloud nine after two years of not winning any matches.

“Potter! You bloody bastard come here!” Oh god— he was being hugged now—

“We wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you mate!!”

“Y-Yeah. Yeah uh—You’re welcome.”

The hug went on a few seconds longer then Albus would have liked before Lionel finally let go and went skipping off to hug more people.

“Hey!” Albus greeted Scorpius with a grin. “You were amazing out there! I couldn’t believe you were so fast!”

“Thanks…!” Scorpius replied, grinning and panting still. Up close, Albus could see he was sweating— his hair stuck to his face and his pale cheeks flushed. “I was so nervous, you wouldn’t believe it.”

“You ran Jeremy in circles…! I’ve never seen anyone do that before!” Albus laughed.

“I’ve watched him play enough to see what it is he likes to do during games.” Scorpius said, pausing to push his hair out of his face. “He likes to trail people and shake them off their brooms. I had to get him tired before I could worry about the snitch.”

“Thats amazing…” Albus breathed. To think Scorpius had that all planned out—And Albus was sitting on his ass worrying his head off over nothing…! He couldn’t believe how incredible he was…

Before Albus could say anything more, a women came rushing over and hugged Scorpius tightly.

She was a small women, with long dark hair and dark eyes—she was smiling wide, hugging him tight.

Albus figured out she must be Scorpius’ mum, but only when he saw Draco Malfoy follow after her.

Draco looked at Albus and he could tell the man did _not_ like him. Clearly he hasn’t forgotten about the incident when he was a kid, much like Albus. He wore a sneer that was directed towards him while his wife and son weren’t looking and dropped it as soon as his wife looked up.

“Oh darling you were just wonderful out there! I’m so proud of you!” His mother said, kissing his face. Scorpius wrinkled his nose but couldn’t stop the smile that formed on his lips when she did.

“You did really well. I think thats the fastest I’ve ever seen you fly.” Draco said, face softening when he looked at his son, but still no trace of a smile.

“Thank you! Oh—You know Albus Potter, right? He helped me get on the team!” Scorpius exclaimed, grabbing Albus’ arm and dragging him closer to his parents—

Oh lord—the sneer was back and his mother looked a touch surprised.

“Oh, how kind of you.” His mother said, recovering faster hen Draco did. Not that the sneer ever left his face.

“Thank you for helping him gain this opportunity.”

“Its—Nothing. Really.” Albus said, wanting nothing more then to get away from Draco Malfoy, who looked about three seconds away from cursing him.

“He doesn’t need extra help.” Draco said, tone icy—He didn’t sign when he spoke, which meant his words were only for Albus. “He can get by on his own, like any other person.”

His wife swallowed a bit, and gave her husbands arm a squeeze—Albus shifted awkwardly. He didn’t know what to say to that, but Scorpius made a huffy noise.

“Are you being rude?” He huffed at his father.

“I said thank you, obviously. I’m not rude.” Draco signed at his son. “Come on, I want to celebrate your first win. Lets go.” He said, signing easily, but his verbal tone would be firm.

“It was nice meeting you Albus.” Draco’s wife said, smiling kindly at him. Albus liked her—Scorpius has the same smile as his mom—genuine and kind.

“Nice meeting you too Mrs. Malfoy…” Albus responded as she half pushed her husband away from the boys.

“You should go celebrate.” Albus said, glancing at Scorpius.

“Do you want to come?”

“Oh—No. No thanks—Its a family thing, and—I have my own family here, so…”

“Oh, of course.” Scorpius smiled, pushing his hair back. “I’ll see you later then—I want to celebrate with you and Rose later—And Lily! They both helped me a lot during practice, so I want to thank them properly.”

“Yeah—yeah, we’ll do that.” Albus smiled at him. “Go to your parents before your dad hexes me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man life gets busy during the holidays but hey, happy new year, I'm still here and so's this fic.
> 
> if you wanna follow me on other things my twitter is @ZiggyTheNinja same as my tumblr and insta etc


	10. Chapter 10

After the rather successful Quidditch match that Scorpius won for Gryffindor, things changed a bit for him, as far as Albus could see. More people from his house paid attention to him in more positive ways—They waved at him more and patted his back kindly. People asked Lily or Rose—Although usually Lily, as she was less likely to kill them with a single gaze—To tell him nice things. It was a spectacular change and at times, Albus wasn’t sure Scorpius knew what to do with all the attention. He didn’t seem to hate it though, but he certainly seemed constantly shocked when people approached him with kindness.

That made Albus feel bad—But this was a good thing! The other good thing is that even with his new found popularity, Scorpius made it clear that Albus was someone he still wanted to spend time with. That felt nice, honestly—Albus sometimes forgot how genuine Scorpius can be, and worried he would find other people in his house he’d rather hang out with then him.

It was nice—And he needed some of that good attention, since word got out fairly fast that it was Albus that set Scorpius up with his role as Seeker for Gryffindor. His housemates were none too kind when they found that out, and its been very stiff in the common room as a result. Too many people paying attention to him, glaring at him, commenting how he wanted Gryffindor to win cause his whole family were Gryffindor—

Scorpius tapping his shoulder snapped Albus out of his thoughts.

“Can you order for me? This server is new.”

They were at Three Broomsticks, sitting by the bar and away from a group of students at the tables (there were a few Slytherins that Albus wanted to avoid). Scorpius usually is able to order for himself when Madam Rosmerta is around, since she’s known long enough that Scorpius can not hear. Albus learned he gets anxious when the usual employees aren’t on duty.

“Sure—Butterbeer okay?” Scorpius nodded, pushing his hair back. Albus’ eyes feel on Scorpius’ hearing aids, and then on the small scar where Albus had accidentally hurt him all those years ago.

Albus quickly got the bartenders attention and ordered two butterbeer’s and just as quickly started to drink, coughing when he did so too fast. Scorpius laughed that breathy laugh of his when he did before telling him to slow down.

Albus glanced at his hearing aids again.

“….Hey!” He said, a little louder then he should off and would start to sign. “Can I ask you a question?”

Scorpius nodded, giving him his full attention.

“This is going to sound…..stupid.” Albus asked before pointing at his own ears.

“What are those?” Scorpius blinked a bit before touching his hearing aids and smiled softly.

“They’re called hearing aids—I have very little hearing left in my ears and these help try and enhance the sounds for me. Its not much—But thats why I jump sometimes when really loud noises happen close to me.”

“Oh….I’ve never seen anything like it—Oh you don’t have to—“ Albus started, but Scorpius took one out and held it out to him. Awkwardly, Albus took it. It was small, obviously made to fit in an ear, and a light tan color, still too dark for Scorpius’ pale skin.

“Not to be rude…But it looks rather odd.” Scorpius laughed softly in response.

“Its technically muggle technology—Just magically enhanced. Theres not really….much the wizarding world has to offer with things like this…My parents happened to find a muggle born doctor overseas who specialized in muggle tech being combined with magic. Its a work in progress, but as long as it doesn’t explode in my ear, I’m happy with it.” Scorpius laughed and Albus couldn’t help but laugh as well.

“I suppose its a good thing, not having things blow up in your ear.”

“Right—Although I have to get them replaced every other year. Being around so much magic at school stresses it out faster. Its a bit of a bother, but what can you do.”

Before Scorpius put his hearing aid back in his ear, a girly voice cut into the air as someone touched Albus’ shoulder. He looked up at a young women with slivery hair and a nasty smile and Albus felt himself tense up immediately.

“Spending time with your Gryffindor mate, are you Potter? Plotting more ways for Gryffindor to beat us in up coming games?”

“We’re just having a drink.” Albus said with a tense frown. He felt her play with his hair and he’d jerk his head to the side, trying to shake her off of him.

“Nothing better then having a pity drink with a pity friend. Oh! Whats this!” She’d giggle, snatching up Scorpius’ hearing aid just as he put it back in his ear. Scorpius gasped when Delphi grabbed his hearing aid and Albus stood up quickly.

“Come on~ Lets toss it around like old times—“ Before Delphi could do anything, Albus seized her wrist tightly.

“Ow!! Ow ow ow!! Let go you brute!!” She’d complain, loudly, getting the attention of some of the patrons of Three Broomsticks—Many of which were sending Albus warning looks for grabbing a girl like this. It made him anxious, but he wasn’t going to back down.

“Delphi, give it back.” Albus said firmly as he used his free hand to force her palm open. The hearing aid came tumbling and Albus grabbed it before she could. Once it was out of her hands, Albus let go of her quickly.

“I can’t believe you’d put your hands on a girl like that!” She exclaimed loudly, glaring at him.

“Stop bothering him.” Albus snapped. “It wasn’t funny then and its not funny now.”

“Like you’re one to talk—You did it too! Don’t try to pretend you’re somehow better then everyone else just because you’re being a pity friend!”

“Thats enough!” Albus jumped when Madam Rosmerta walked in from the back of the bar. “I’ll have no more of this! Delphi, quit causing trouble in my pub! Potter, keep your hands to yourself!”

“We were just leaving.” Albus told her, pulling Scorpius up, who had spent the entire exchange looking between everyone with wide, confused eyes. Those same eyes stared at Albus as he dragged him through the bar as Albus avoided the Slytherins students looks of irritation. Once they were outside, Albus felt the kiss of cold air on his cheeks as he stepped into the light snow and finally turned to Scorpius, holding his hearing aid out.

“Here…Sorry about that.” Scorpius took it and quickly put it back in his ear.

“What were you two saying..?” Scorpius asked, looking at Albus—

Who didn’t have the heart to say—

“Its nothing important!” He said, shaking his head. “Delphi was just being stupid. Don’t worry about it.”

“….” Scorpius looked at Albus with that oddly unreadable look he sometimes gives him. It was often so different from his usual easy going smile that Albus never knew what to do when he couldn’t read him. But then, Albus is sure he’s over thinking it. Scorpius is likely just bothered by what happened—If Albus has let her, Delphi would have for sure does something to destroy the hearing aid. When the snow began to fall, Albus looked up and signed—

“Lets go back to school?” Scorpius nodded, smiling, the strange unreadable look having long since passed. As they walked, side by side, their arms just barely brushing, Scorpius tapped his shoulder.

“Do you have plans for the holiday break?”

Albus thought about that. Truthfully, he didn’t. He never really did anything unless his family decided they would go traveling.

“Probably just waste away at home. Why? Do you have plans?”

Scorpius shook his head. “If you find yourself not busy…Would you like to hang out over break?”

Albus stopped walking. Scorpius had walked two steps ahead of him and turned around curiously, cracking a grin at the stupidly excited look on his face.

“Yeah!” he’d exclaimed, nodding his head firmly. “Yeah! Lets do that!”

Scorpius laughed—Albus probably looked so dumb being happy by this.

“You can come over to my house if you want.” He said, causing Albus’ smile to falter.

“I don’t know if thats a good idea….I’m pretty sure your dad would hex me if I stepped even an inch in your house.” Scorpius gave a very firm shake of his head at that.

“He won’t! Dad can be cranky, but he won’t do anything bad! If he did, mum would set him right. But if it makes you anxious, we can always go to your house.”

That was almost an even worse idea. Albus wasn’t sure he was ready for Scorpius to meet the rest of his family—He was more worried about James being a git, to be honest, but he didn’t want to have any strange conversation with his parents about why he was suddenly bringing Scorpius around.

“We’ll figure it out.” Albus said with a weak grin.

—

Unfortunately, the two did not get to figure it out any time soon.

A few weeks before Christmas break officially began, Scorpius was suddenly no where to be seen. Albus had worried, thought perhaps he was sick and asked Rose if he was okay. She said she didn’t know because she hadn’t seen him all day. It wasn’t until Albus ran into Lionel that he found out Scorpius had gone home early for what he says Scorpius wrote was a Family Emergency.

Albus had complicated feelings about why Lionel was the only one who knew about this, but he pushed those feelings aside. It wasn’t too odd for Scorpius to sometimes leave school. It happened a lot when they were younger and the bulling was especially bad—But things have been good for him lately…

Albus spent the last few weeks of school weirdly restless. He kept checking the mail for a possible letter from Scorpius, explaining why he left, but nothing ever came. Not even for Rose or Lily. When the final day of school came around Albus was ready to lose it, but forced himself to keep it together when he was on his way home. Its not like its any of Albus’ business, but he couldn’t stop thinking about it and—

Merlin _why Lionel_?!

Sadly, when Albus arrived home he found himself terribly preoccupied by his family. His parents hugging and kissing him and Lily, dragging them home and talking their ears off. He couldn’t even get to his bedroom for an hour because the family had all gathered at the Potter residence for dinner.

None of this was out of the ordinary—Its just Albus could literally feel time drag as he made small talk with his family.

Albus only perked up when his god brother Teddy finally joined the gathering, the last to arrive. His hair was a sea foam green, flipped to the side in an unusually simple style and he was sporting freckles this time around—Albus bee lined to his god brother and practically cornered him at the front door before James could get to him.

“Whoa! Good to see you too Al.” Teddy laughed, giving him a hug.

“Teddy, you uh—Do you happen to know where the Malfoy residence is??” The question clearly surprised Teddy, his eye brows shooting up. Albus knows Teddy has some kind of relation to the Malfoy family, and sometimes pops in and out. Albus has always avoided talk of the Malfoy’s with Teddy very carefully, so his question was obviously unexpected.

“The Manor? Why do you need to know that?”

“…Uh—Thats…Scorpius Malfoy….missed a lot of class recently! I need to give him his assignments.” Teddy hummed, brows furrowed.

“I see….aaah. Man uh—Yeah, I know it. I can give you the address. Just uh…Maybe don’t go over there any time soon. Lemme get some paper…”

Albus watched Teddy walk away to write down the address—Feeling terribly confused.

Don’t go over…Why would he say that? Did something happen?

…Maybe he’ll wait a few days. That should be okay, right? Scorpius has been away for a few weeks after all, so if he was dealing with something, it should be over by now, right?

—

Albus carefully waited until the end of the week before going on his way to the Malfoy Manor. He felt anxious about it, after how cryptic Teddy had acted, but he did have Scorpius’ assignments and—Scorpius said he could come over during the holiday okay!! So its not as if its strange for him to just—show up!!

Thats what he told himself, at least. He felt his stomach bubble in anxiety, made even worse by his Apparating to the Malfoy Manor. The manor was large and dark, uncomfortably far from any city or town, muggle and wizard alike. Albus noticed that the gate that surrounded the manor was unlocked and allowed himself to slip in, walking along the smooth pathway to the old home. Once at the door, he noticed that was ajar as well…

Albus thought it’d be rude to just walk in, so he knocked.

…..

He knocked once more, a little louder.

………

Alright _fine_ , he’ll walk in.

Albus pushed the door open, peeking his head in.

“…hello? Anyone home..?” He heard shuffling—loud shuffling— but no one answered. Albus stepped inside and closed the door, slowly walking through the manor. It was dimly lit inside and he noticed in the next room over, what looked to be a living room, was filled with people. Were the Malfoy’s having a party? They must be, everyone was really well dressed, clad in dark robes. Albus looked down at his jeans and sweater—

Best avoid the crowds. He sticks out like a sore thumb. He quickly passed the living room undetected and clung to the wall, looking for a blonde head. Although the other blonde head he saw were in the pictures on the wall. Albus paused for a moment, looking at the moving portraits of Scorpius as a little kid, smiling big—portraits of him with his parents, Draco’s expression firm in most of them, but not so tight as it is when he looks at Albus. Scorpius’ smile truly came from his mother, Albus thought.

Carefully maneuvering through the manor, the only blonde hair he was able to find were Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, who were some of the last people Albus ever wanted to run into. Albus would rather slam face first into Draco naked then meet eyes with Scorpius’ grandparents.

“I understand he’s upset but honestly, letting this place get so messy…” Albus heard Lucius complain from the room he was trying to sneak by. His voice made Albus’ skin crawl.

“Have some compassion.” Narcissa said, sounding tired. “This has been a trying time.”

“We all knew it would happen sooner or later. I don’t see why he has to be so dramatic—“

“That doesn’t make it any easier.” She snapped. “I won’t hear another word of it.”

Albus quickly passed the room with a thumping heart. He wondered what they meant—Albus didn’t think the place looked terribly unclean. Honestly, it was the cleanest house Albus has ever seen. No one in his family could keep a single room spick and span for more then a few minutes.

After a few more minutes hugging walls and hiding in rooms, Albus made it to the back of the house without seeing Scorpius. He hadn’t managed to check the up stairs yet but honestly, at this point, Albus felt like he was pushing his luck. Nearly running into Lucius and Narcissa lit a fire under Albus and he was truly worried he was going to meet Draco before Scorpius. Sighing, Albus found the door that led to what he assumed was the backyard, and went through it. There, he found what he was looking for.

Scorpius stood several feet away from him—Much like the front of the manor, the backyard was less a yard and more of a field, with vast land and tall trees surrounded the area. Despite standing further out and away from the manor, Albus could tell it was Scorpius and not Draco, especially as he got closer. His hair was longer and shaggier then Draco’s after all, and he’s shorter then his dad, but honestly not by much. Not that it made a difference, Scorpius was taller then Albus anyway—

Albus suddenly stopped dead.

Scorpius’ back was to him—He wore black robes and his hair was pushed back, similar to how Draco wore his. His shoulders were slumped as he stood in front of…a grave?

A fresh grave, as far as Albus could see, and realized that he did not intrude on some fancy cocktail party meant for wealthy pureblood wizards, but, in face, a funeral.

Oh Merlin.

Albus needed to _go_.

Albus very quickly backed up, keeping his eyes on Scorpius to make sure he didn’t suddenly turn around and catch him—

He practically threw himself back inside the manor, heart hammering faster now as he quickly tried to sneak back out. It didn’t even occur to him to use magic to leave—Albus was too panicked about his horrible intrusion. After running into someone—Luckily the wizard was old and more then a little drunk—Albus slowed down, hugging the wall once more. When Albus began to pass the room that looked like the den, he quickly back tracked, catching sight of someone in the room that was previously empty. Peaking, Albus sucked in a breath, catching sight of Draco Malfoy. He was in similar robes as his son, slick and black as he sat in a leather chair, leaning forward against his knees. As Albus peeked, he saw his head hung low, his hands rubbing his eyes as he—

Sucking in a breath, Albus looked away and quickly darted to the front of the manor. As he slammed himself against the front door, fumbling in his panic as he attempted to open it, he heard some people in the nearby room speak.

“Such a shame, it is it.”

“I’ll say—Who knows what those boys are going to now, without her.”

“Astoria really was the one who held this place together you know. What a loss….”

As soon as the door opened, Albus ran out and across the smooth walk, panting hard before he finally remembered he could Apperite.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> writing this chapter took 40 years off of my life
> 
> Just to reiterate i haven't read cursed child so idk jack about Delphi as an actual character and i really don't care i just need someone to be an asshole and she fits the bill
> 
> the only thing cursed child gave me was Best Dad Draco Malfoy so /waves hands


End file.
